Southern Memories & A Spring Plant Sale

I don’t know about you, but I think that this has been the most absolutely gorgeous spring season in Texas that I have experienced in over a decade. I have come to greatly appreciate the cool morning breeze followed by the warm, sunny afternoons. The azaleas were voluptuous this past month, and I ‘m sure that everyone who had one in their yard was proud of their healthy specimens bursting forth with such soft subtle hues of pink, white and red.

I can remember spring-time at my aunt’s house in New Orleans to be just as spectacular as what we have witnessed here in Houston this past month. I recall the Easter morning when she lovingly presented to me a hand-painted porcelain egg resting upon a bed of fresh alfalfa. Iwas at the tender age of seven. I thought it was the most beautiful gift and I greatly admired it.

This favorite aunt of mine showed me how to raise worms inside some old coca-cola crates she kept in an old trunk out behind her garage. We would use their castings to fertilize the lush green ferns, and the beautiful, elegant, Louisiana Irises that adorned her beautiful cottage garden. I was taught how to layer the vegetable waste from the kitchen between the pages of the Times Picayune newspaper carefully inside the worm-bin. When they were ready, we would mix the worm castings into the upper layer of her garden’s soil.

She was a loving family member who took the time to introduce me to the beauty of nature and taught me that if we give our time and prepare the soil properly, we will soon reap the benefits of our labors.

She took me to visit Oak Alley Plantation so that I might admire the beautiful oak trees that framed a path to the Mississippi river. She often took me to downtown New Orleans so that I might see the artists painting in Jackson Square and the beautiful patio gardens New Orleans is famous for.

When I visited her home, I was always eager to dump her coffee grinds into the compost heap, knowing that soon we would use this black gold to fertilize her vegetable garden as well. There is nothing like the soft pleasing smell of a fresh ripe tomato that you have picked off your own vine in the very garden that you prepared and planted.

Witnessing the beauty of the past few weeks here in Houston has brought back some fond memories. I hope that someone in your life encourages you and shares with you their knowledge of growing green things. If you are already a lover of the land, then please consider sharing your knowledge with a youngster and help to foster in them a love of all things green and growing.

I would like to take the opportunity to invite you all to attend our marvelous Spring Plant Sale. It will be held this Saturday, April 4, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. We are very excited this year because we will be holding our sale on the street level of the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s main entrance. (The plant sale is usually held on the rooftop of the museum’s parking garage.) We hope by holding it on the street level, customers will have easier access to the sale.

Eddie Holik, our Head horticulturist, Soni Holladay, horticulturist, Dr. Nancy Greig, Cockrell Butterfly Center director, Erin Millender, entomologist, Laurie Pierrel, entomologist, and yours truly, Ory Roberts, greenhouse manager have been busy shopping and preparing for the sale. And, most importantly our dedicated greenhouse volunteers who have propagated and raised some of the plants since last November are anxiously awaiting your arrival. We hope to see you there and can’t wait to meet your family and friends.

Happy Gardening!!

Authored By Ory Roberts

Ory is the Greenhouse Manager/Rearing Coordinator for the Cockrell Butterfly Center. Didn’t know there was a greenhouse at the Museum? She raises 20,000 Heliconius longwing butterflies there, as well as thousands of host and nectar plants for butterfly gardening. Check out her posts for more information on gardening with nature.

Equally Interesting Posts

Lecture – Cultivating the Next Generation of Female Space Pioneers by Carolyn Sumners Women have played a vital role in the U.S. space program since its inception in the 1940’s. While women were once considered unfit for space travel, the most recent NASA class is 50 percent female. As we begin celebrating the 50th […]

Lecture – Beauty and Morphology of Insects by Erin Mills Characteristics and adaptations of these unique and misunderstood creatures will be explored by Erin Mills, Director of the Cockrell Butterfly Center. Living exotic beetles, giant katydids, walking sticks, hissing cockroaches, beautiful butterflies and other exciting arthropods will compliment this special presentation and tour of the […]

By Jeff Cummins, Horticulturalist at the Cockrell Butterfly Center A sea of green surrounds people living in even the most urban environments, and yet almost nobody can see truly the plants. We see the trees, manicured hedges, or notice when our neighbor has taken a little too long to mow the lawn, but that’s […]

Lecture – Facing the Past – Cases in Forensic Sculpture by Amanda Danning Forensic sculptor Amanda Danning performs facial reconstructions on skulls whose true appearance is unknown. She has worked on the most exciting anthropology finds in North America as well as contemporary criminal cases. Danning’s captivating presentation will combine history and technology, forensics and […]

Behind The Scenes Tour Of Out Hall Of Paleontology: The Reign of Mammals: Giants of the Pleistocene Because the Morian Hall of Paleontology is too large to tour in one evening, we are debuting a new series that will cover the hall section by section. Led by HMNS staff trainer, James Washington, each tour will […]

Frozen (2013) GET TICKETS August 31 When the newly-crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister Anna teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition. 102 min. – Animation | Adventure | Comedy Won 2 Oscars. Lecture […]